WCC assembly to be a pilgrimage to peace and justice

In a ceremony at the German Protestant Kirchentag, more than a thousand participants offered prayers for the World Council of Churches (WCC) Busan assembly delegates, commissioning them to tread the “paths to peace in the East and West, North and South."

Held at the St Petri Cathedral in Hamburg, 4 May, the service featured reflections from the WCC general secretary, Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, on the WCC assembly theme, “God of life, lead us to justice and peace.”

The WCC 10th Assembly will be held from 30 October to 8 November.

“We are praying, working and walking together on a pilgrimage to justice and peace,” Tveit said.

“The image of a pilgrimage as the framework for our way to justice and peace offers a link between spirituality and work that is urgently needed.” This pilgrimage, he added, “conveys a spirituality defined neither by triumphalism nor fatalism.”

Tveit highlighted the significance of churches to “be together” in their journey towards peace.

“We are on the way, with one another, with the God of life, with a clear purpose.” He said to be the church together “means to not look to ourselves, but to those who need the church to be a just and inclusive community, to offer a witness about Christ, to show courage and give hope.”

Han Nataly Jung-Hwa and Rev. Dr Ofelia Ortega Suárez, WCC’s president for Latin America participated in the ceremony. Bishop emeritus Bärbel Wartenberg-Potter preached on the assembly theme, underlining the need for Christians to care for all life threatened by climate change and injustice.

The German Protestant Kirchentag is a church-wide event in Germany bringing together some 117,000 participants from 1 to 5 May in Hamburg.